Young people would be ‘insane’ to get into farming - MEP
MEP Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan has said that under current conditions, young people would be ‘insane’ to get involved in farming.
He said: “The figures are stark and they're clear to hear. The average age of farmers rose from 55 to 57 between 2010 and 2020.
“The number of farms for people under the age of 35 fell by 47%. And we're now looking at a massive shortfall in funding.”
The MEP said that he would not advise his own children to become farmers.
“I'd have to say as a parent myself and looking at my just young adult children, I'd have to say at the moment, if they were talking about people who aren't currently in farming, getting into farming, I’d tell them under the current environment, they would be insane to get involved in it,” he said.
However, he added that if conditions improved there was an "ambitious budget" and "profitability was at the core of farming", he would be more encouraging about their choice
“Because if there is profitability and there is some sort of assurance that there's a future, there are so many other benefits to doing this job.”
The MEP said that benefits include working with nature and that farming can be very healthy, though “not if some people get their way with the pesticides at the moment”.
He added that without farmers, “we won’t have food and without that, we don't have a future”.
Report
Flanagan made these comments a meeting of the European Parliament Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development on Monday (July 13).
This meeting discussed MEP Maria Walsh's report on Generational Renewal in Agriculture, and the amendments to the report submitted by colleagues.
She said that while the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is an important tool, “it cannot solve this challenge on its own”.
Walsh added: “We need to look beyond CAP support alone, considered the whole farming journey from helping young people enter the sector to creating the right conditions for older generations to pass on their farms with confidence and security.
“There is a broad agreement that access to finance must improve, especially for those without inherited assets or collateral.”
The Midlands-North-West MEP said that it is important young people not choose farming unless they can build a successful business, earn a fair income, and enjoy a good quality of life.
“That is why generation renewal is just not an agricultural issue. It's an economic issue.”
In his address to the parliament, Flanagan thanked MEP Walsh for the report, adding: "One thing we don't want at the end of this process is that this gets ignored because we have had reports like this before.”
